“The superstitious man is to the rogue what the slave is to the tyrant.”
–Voltaire
The other day I was watching ICC Champions Trophy Cricket match between India and South Africa and the commentator says ‘Oh South Africa lose their first wicket at the unlucky score of 13’. Superstition is everywhere. Every culture has its share of irrational causal beliefs, but some cultures are more superstitious than others,and we are no exception. Being superstitious is something we often learn as children. I remember as a child, the first page of my notebook was always ‘For God’. Everyone believed it would bring us good luck. This, I believe, still continues among the younger group but with a difference. They do leave the first page blank but don’t write ‘For God’ anymore.We also believed in writing ‘OM’ on the top of our answer paper hoping for the best result. Oh, and the ‘new pinch phenomenon’, we all enjoyed that. These are all examples of superstition. Now, let me tell you, how the dictionary defines it. [break]
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines superstition, as ‘a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown’. Having said so, I acknowledge the fact that we still do all kinds of senseless actions, from touching wood for good luck, to walking around ladders to avoid bad luck. So, why do we repeat these stupid actions anyway, you may ask? My guess is we just don’t want to find out the consequence of not doing something that is said to be lucky. According to researchers working on superstition, our brain feels pressured to ‘capture’ the behavior important for success when the stakes are high. For example, Tiger Woods always wears red on the last day of a golf tournament. He believes it to be his ‘power color’. I know you are curious to find out ‘how believing in superstition started’, right?
Well, superstitions began centuries ago as our ancestors attempted to explain mysterious circumstances or events with knowledge they had at the time. I am sure you will agree with me when I say, basically our belief is more in the line with ‘if it is not broken, don’t fix it’. In the process, we end up believing in ridiculous superstitions like putting the right foot forward for good luck. We all know it does not really matter, but we still believe in it. Yes I know, it is a false belief based on ignorance and fear of unknown. It has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence. Still we adhere it. As a result often we end up in funny situations, because, though we don’t want to believe in superstitions, we cannot get away from it either. Now you are asking, ‘so why can’t we get away from it?’ You are right again, we should, but we do not want to risk finding out what happens if we change. Superstitions give us the feeling of having done one more thing in the right direction, to ensure our desired outcome. This in turn provides us with a sense of security and confidence. Thus these rituals survive despite being irrational and funny.
My friend always said she got out of the wrong side of the bed if she was having a bad day. I never understood which side of the bed was the wrong side. Can you remember when was the last time you believed in superstition? Yes, yes, the time you said, ‘touch wood I did not catch your cold’, or avoided a black cat, or read your daily horoscope? I can see you are smiling. So you too are superstitious, but you never realized it, because it has become kind of a habit. According to a recent Gallup poll, more than half of Americans admitted to being at least a little superstitious.You see, believing in superstition is quite common; it’s not just us.
So the next time a black cat crosses your road, don’t stop, be decisive, upbeat and move forward, because, those who are decisive and upbeat tend to be less superstitious.
Pokharel is an educationist, consultant and author of several children’s books.